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Paul in Prison

In this early work, Rembrandt has set the scene as if we were actually present in Paul’s cell. The saint is shown sitting on his bed in his prison cell with his belongings arranged at his side. His expression does not indicate a man imprisoned, but a man with work still to do. The gentle light from the window envelopes his head in a halo. The large sword leaning on the bed could be a symbol of his impending martyrdom or perhaps an allusion to the Sword of the Spirit from Eph 6:17. Rembrandt painted Paul repeatedly, perhaps because Paul’s writings were so important for the popular Reformationtheology of his time.

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Whether or not one affiliates with a religious tradition that considers Paul an enduring authoritative voice, the complex letters and legacies of Christianity’s “second founder” are critical to engage today.

A sixteenth-century movement in Europe that questioned the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

A person deemed holy by a religious tradition, especially in Roman Catholicism.

Writing, speech, or thought about the nature and behavior of God.

The third division of the Jewish canon, also called by the Hebrew name Ketuvim. The other two divisions are the Torah (Pentateuch) and Nevi'im (Prophets); together the three divisions create the acronym Tanakh, the Jewish term for the Hebrew Bible.

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